Without a word, Mr. Cooper strode straight to the coffin holding my body. He took out a red cord strung with three bells and began to shake it.
"What are you doing?" My uncle burst out, rushing over. The rest of my relatives and friends crowded around, anxious and tense.
"This boy isn't dead yet," Mr. Cooper said. The crowd fell silent, but soon voices calling them frauds and lunatics echoed through the hall.
"Ethan, what should we do? Today is your seventh day. Before midnight, your soul must return, or you'll never come back again."
Mrs. Blake spoke to me as if she knew I was standing right beside the coffin.
"Grandma, can you hear me now?" Mrs. Blake nodded.
Then I told Mrs. Blake all the major and minor events from my childhood, my little habits. Meanwhile, my uncle and Mr. Cooper had started fighting, and the crematorium security guards tried to drag Mr. Cooper away.
Mrs. Blake felt her way to my mother's side and spoke with her for a long while. My parents stared at Mrs. Blake in astonishment.
After my parents persuaded them, Mrs. Blake and Mr. Cooper were given one hour. I was carried into the main hall of the crematorium office.
Following Mr. Cooper's instructions, my relatives lifted me out, hands and feet. Mr. Cooper took out a long roll of red cord, with a small paper figure tied at intervals along its length.